Owls must make do without their Gardner

06 September 2013 09:39

Defender facing long spell out

Sheffield Wednesday have been dealt a significant blow with the news that central defender Anthony Gardner will miss a large part of the season through injury.

The former Spurs player picked up an injury in the first-half of last Saturday's 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough. The Owls feared the worst and unfortunately it has now been confirmed that he has a torn achilles which will be operated on next week.

Gardner will be sidelined for a number of months leaving Dave Jones without his captain and first choice centre-back. It remains to be seen whether Wednesday will delve into the loan market for a replacement next week. The Owls do have a number of centre-back options including Kamil Zayatte, Miguel Llera and Martin Taylor. Full-backs Lewis Buxton and Reda Johnson are also capable of covering in the centre of defence.